Radio broadcasting
Radiodifusión
- Date
- 1906–1920 · confidence high
- Place
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
- Credited to
- Reginald Fessenden (first voice and music broadcast, Brant Rock, 1906); Frank Conrad and Westinghouse (KDKA, 1920); Edwin Armstrong (regenerative, superheterodyne, FM 1933)
- People
- 👤 Edwin Armstrong1890–1954👤 Frank Conrad1874–1941👤 Reginald Aubrey Fessenden1866–1932
- Field
- Communication
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Regular broadcast of voice and music to an anonymous public with domestic receivers. KDKA inaugurated commercial radio by broadcasting the 1920 election results.
Claims to the first regular station: PCGG (The Hague, 1919), 8MK Detroit (1920), Radio Argentina (Buenos Aires, 27-8-1920).
What it led to
- First instantaneous mass medium: news, sport, advertising
- Political propaganda (Roosevelt, Hitler, BBC)
- Homogeneous national popular culture and pop music
Built on
Made possible
- Mechanical television1925–1926
- Electronic television1927–1936
- FM radio
- Superheterodyne receiver